Care Courses Blog

Big feel­ings are a nor­mal part of ear­ly childhood—but they can be chal­leng­ing for both chil­dren and teach­ers to nav­i­gate. Whether it’s a toddler’s tears at drop-off, a preschooler’s frus­tra­tion when a toy is tak­en, or a melt­down at cleanup time, ear­ly child­hood pro­fes­sion­als play a vital role in help­ing young chil­dren under­stand and man­age their emotions.

Let’s explore how you can sup­port emo­tion­al devel­op­ment in your pro­gram with prac­ti­cal, com­pas­sion­ate strategies.

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Why Managing Big Emotions Matters

Learn­ing to rec­og­nize and man­age emo­tions is a skill that devel­ops over time. For young chil­dren, this process can be espe­cial­ly overwhelming—they’re still learn­ing how to iden­ti­fy feel­ings, com­mu­ni­cate their needs, and under­stand oth­ers’ perspectives.

When care­givers offer con­sis­tent sup­port and mod­el healthy emo­tion­al respons­es, chil­dren devel­op a strong foun­da­tion for social skills, resilience, and life­long men­tal health.

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Actionable Tips for Managing Big Emotions

Here are some easy-to-imple­ment ideas you can try right away:

1. Name the Feeling

Chil­dren often don’t have the words for what they’re expe­ri­enc­ing. Try saying:

• “You look frus­trat­ed. It’s hard when you can’t do some­thing right away.”
• “I see you’re sad. You real­ly want­ed to stay out­side longer.”

Nam­ing feel­ings helps chil­dren con­nect lan­guage to emo­tion and feel understood.

2. Create a Calm-Down Area

Des­ig­nate a cozy space with soft pil­lows, calm­ing books, or sen­so­ry tools like stress balls. Use it as a safe place for chil­dren to regroup—not a pun­ish­ment area.

3. Teach Calming Techniques

Prac­tice sim­ple self-reg­u­la­tion tools as part of your routine:

• Deep breath­ing (“Smell the flower, blow out the candle”)
• Gen­tle stretch­ing or yoga poses
• Squeez­ing a stuffed animal

4. Model Emotional Intelligence

Let chil­dren see you man­ag­ing your own feel­ings with calm words and actions. Nar­rat­ing your thought process shows them how to han­dle frus­tra­tion or dis­ap­point­ment constructively.

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Use Visual Tools and Consistent Routines

Visu­al emo­tion charts or sto­ry­books about feel­ings can help chil­dren rec­og­nize and talk about emo­tions. Pre­dictable rou­tines also reduce anx­i­ety and cre­ate a sense of secu­ri­ty, which makes it eas­i­er for chil­dren to reg­u­late their emo­tions through­out the day.

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You’re Not Alone

Sup­port­ing chil­dren through emo­tion­al ups and downs takes patience and prac­tice. But remem­ber: every time you com­fort a cry­ing child, help a preschool­er work through anger, or offer a calm­ing pres­ence, you’re teach­ing skills that will last a lifetime.

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Want to learn more?

Take our 3‑hour course: Social-Emo­tion­al Devel­op­ment in Young Chil­dren 

Read our blog: How can I sup­port chil­dren’s social-emo­tion­al development?